OA NOVA
NOVAT IO NS
OCTOBER 2014
WHA T IS A BS TI NE NCE ? - BRIDGET(NOVATIONS EDITOR)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
ABSTINENCE
CHECKLIST...
2
ABSTINENCE
LITERATURE
2
BEHAVIORS/
ACTION THAT KEEP
ME ABSTINENT
3
IN A WORD,
“FREEDOM”-
4
STEP, TRADITION,
& CONCEPT OF THE
MONTH
5
TOOL OF THE
MONTH
5
WORD FROM THE
CHAIR
6
SPECIAL POINTS
OF INTEREST:
 Abstinence In OA and
OA’s definition of
abstinence
 What abstinence
means to members of
OA
 How to find and obtain
abstinence in OA
I have been in OA for approximately a year and a half now
and am currently working on my
fourth step. I achieved abstinence for only one month so far
(months ago), and even then I
struggled to clearly define what
that was.
searching, and c) the answer is
different for everyone. The common theme, which will be seen
throughout these pages, is that
you must work the steps and
the program.
So, in my search for the answer
I decided the Novations Newsletter was the perfect platform
to search for the answer and
perhaps helps others who may
be questioning “What is Abstinence?”
I go to meetings, ask people,
and read literature searching
for the answer. And still I struggle. What I have come to realize
is that a) the answer will come
in time, b) I cannot give up
ABSTINENCE IN OA
“Abstinence in Overeaters Anonymous is the action of refraining
from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors while working towards or maintaining a
healthy body weight.” (Dignity of
Choice)
result of an impulse or feeling
that feels irresistible.
The objective of OA's definition
of abstinence is that the compulsive eater refrain not from
eating, but rather, from compulsive eating and compulsive food
behaviors, and work towards or
maintain a healthy body weight.
Thus, OA calls for the compulsive eater to define his or her
own plan of eating which enables the compulsive eater to
abstain from compulsive eating
and compulsive food behaviors,
while working towards or maintaining a healthy body weight.
OA literature specifically defines
"compulsion" as follows: "By definition, 'compulsion' means 'an
impulse or feeling of being irresistibly driven toward the performance of some irrational action.'" (Questions and Answers
OA.org) Therefore, "compulsive
eating" and "compulsive food behaviors" (as those terms are used
in OA's definition of abstinence)
The program suggests that
means irrational eating, or irramembers identify the foods that
tional food behaviors, taken as a
"trigger" compulsion. Since individuals are responsible to define their own plan of eating,
they are able to change their
plan of eating if their needs and
understanding of their compulsions change, without that
change constituting a breach of
abstinence. Members are encouraged to seek counsel with
other individuals, generally including a member or members
of the OA fellowship, and, most
importantly, with their "higher
power," before making such
changes, to validate that the
reasons are sound and not unwittingly a decision based on
underlying compulsion. (Dignity
of Choice)
NOVATIONS
Page 2
STRONG ABSTINENCE
CHECKLIST AND WRI TI N G EXERCISE - OA.ORG
Use this valuable tool every day to support you in keeping your abstinence strong and intact.
CHECKLIST
WRITING EXERCISE
1) Have I been abstinent today?
1) What is compulsive eating for me?
2) Did I pray and meditate today?
2) What are the foods and food behaviors that trigger me
to eat compulsively?
3) Am I maintaining or working towards a healthy body weight?
4) Did I rely on my Higher Power to get or stay abstinent today?
5) Is what I am currently doing working for me to remain abstinent?
3) Am I afraid to get abstinent and if yes, why?
4) Why do I think abstinence is important?
5) What do I do to stop eating compulsively?
6) If I am having problems have I asked someone else what
they are doing?
6) What Steps do I take to remain abstinent in all circumstances?
7) Have I made an OA call today?
7) What is the difference between abstinence and a plan
of eating?
8) Did I have an attitude of gratitude today?
9) Did I plan my food today?
10) Have I helped someone else today?
11) Did I have an action plan in place to stay abstinent today?
12) Do I have a sponsor and am I working the Steps with that
person?
8) What actions do I take to maintain my abstinence and
achieve or maintain a healthy body weight?
9) How do I begin my day in order to abstain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors?
10) What tools do I regularly use?
11) How does remaining abstinent improve the quality of
my life?
12) What place does food have in my life today?
ABSTI NENCE LI TERATUR E RESOURCE GUI DE - OA.ORG
PAMPHLETS
10) Tools of Recovery (#160)
1) A Commitment to Abstinence (#141)
11) Members in Relapse (#400)
2) A Plan of Eating (#145)
12) Recovery Checklist (#105)
3) Before You Take That First Compulsive Bite (#150)
13) Welcome Back (#190)
4) Dignity of Choice (#140)
BOOKS
5) Is Food a Problem for You? (#750)
1) Abstinence, Second Edition (#994)
6) Maintaining a Healthy Weight (#310)
2) “The Doctor’s Opinion” from Alcoholics Anonymous,
Fourth Edition (#1000)
7) Many Symptoms, One Solution (#106)
8) Questions and Answers (#170)
9) Think First (#109)
3) The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters
Anonymous (#990)
OCTOBER 2013
Page 3
BEHAVIORS/ACTIONS TH AT KEEP ME ABSTINENT - JOANNA
Below is a list of behaviors/
actions that I have taken- in
addition to getting a sponsor,
working the 12 steps, and using the tools- in the past 18
months that have helped me
stay abstinent and spiritually
and emotionally recover. Without the program, I don't think I
could have done these things
for myself. I live life imperfectly
but I do the things below more
and more and they make my
life rich and full.
I...
 ride my bike so I can feel
the air against my face instead of drive my car
 take public transportation to
be in the midst of others
instead of drive alone in my
car
 take walks to be out in society and see runners and
people walking their dogs
 sit in the sun instead of in
the air conditioning
 sleep early instead of watching TV
 make calls to friends instead of obsessing
 move forward instead of
staying in fear
 weigh my food in public instead of thinking about what
others might think of my
weighing it
 meet up with friends even
when I don't want to
 sponsor instead of just being
sponsored
 buy presents for others' recovery birthdays and anniversaries instead of being lazy,
hoarding my time, affection,
and money
 stay quiet or neutral instead
of demanding my opinion be
heard
 pause
 do nothing instead of forcing
 cry instead because I can and
I get to... I say so
 give more than the suggested
7th Tradition amount because
my finances will be ok
 wait ten minutes before I respond to a sensitive/triggering
text message
 wait until I talk to a sponsor
and journal before I talk to my
significant other about a sensitive topic
 leave work early instead of
 ask recovering OAers for help
friends
things for
myself.”
other, and my friends important things even when I
feel scared, awkward, and
embarrassed
when I'm afraid I'll make a
mistake
 pay the bill when I go out with
have done these
 tell my sponsor, my significant
 try new things at work even
a gym
think I could
emails after 10pm
don't like what my body looks
like in the mirror
 exercise outside instead of in
program, I don't
 don't respond to phones,
 dress becomingly even when I
pushing myself harder
“Without the
with food decisions because
history tells me I can't do it on
my own
 let go of obsessing about food
because I can trust God and
my recovering self...
 cry instead of holding it in
“Nothing gives me more strength than abstinence. It is the Number
One necessity in my life.”
-For Today, May 3rd
NOVATIONS
Page 4
I N A WO RD, “ F REE DO M” - ANONYMOUS
Recently in a meeting a member earnestly wanted a definition of abstinence. She felt
we were confusing and losing
newcomers because there
were so many opinions.
This led me to do some thinking about how my own ideas
have changed over the years.
Years ago when I came into
OA, there was no need to ask
for a definition of abstinence.
We ate what was listed on
the gray sheet and if there
was the slightest deviation,
the guilt was overpowering.
Gray sheet offered even less
variety in those days than it
did when it was finally taken
out of print. But with such a
strict food plan and no
choice, I did not have to ask
what abstinence was. Believe
me, I knew. I did not have to
take any responsibility for
myself.
There is a description in the
OA Brown Book (pgs 117118) that fits my present
thinking: “I believe abstinence can be anything we
want it to be, as long as we
are honest with ourselves.”
I used to sponsor “string
bean strict”. So did everyone.
I knew I’d been using bathroom scales as God for years.
Then that food plan became
God to me. And I did lose
weight. So did the others. It
took a long time, but I came
to realize that when I am
busy talking about food to
those I sponsor at meetings, I
am avoiding talking and
thinking about what is really
my problem. It is a way of
being evasive about working
the steps. We were all doing
that. Oh, we gave the steps
lip-service.
those who don’t want to work
the steps and prefer to find
sponsors who sponsor only food
problems. It takes what it takes
to learn that the compulsion to
overeat dies in direct proportion
to the spiritual and emotional
recovery found in the steps.
Then I saw dear friends who
where thin but still suffering
from the same old character
defects. It was so easy to see
theirs. I looked at myself and
thought, “Is this all there is?”
I continued to be passive,
sometimes passively manipulative, though I didn’t know it.
I did know I was searching for
something more and that I
did not want to quit eating
compulsively. I actually wanted to fill my lack with food,
but didn’t dare - and didn’t
dare say so. Being thin hadn’t
done much for me. I’d been
thin on many diets before OA.
Now, when I sponsor, the ones
being sponsored are asked to
define abstinence as they want
to and to decide what they are
going to adopt as their food
plan. If they choose to write it
down and/or call it to me, that’s
fine. But it is their decision, not
mine. I am no longer God, nor is
food. We don’t talk much about
what we are eating. Talking
about food keeps us from finding out about ourselves.
I used to wish I had enough
money to go to a fat farm on
a regular basis to keep the
weight down. Now I’m glad I
never had that much money.
I would probably still never
have hit bottom and discovered this serene, honest way
of life. I’ve changed from
inside out and I am more
content than I ever knew was
possible.
When I started paying more
attention to the steps, I was
far more successful, both in
my own recovery and as a
sponsor. Of course, there are
I do strongly urge those I sponsor to read the Twelve and
Twelve, the AA Big Book, our
Brown Book, Lifeline and the OA
pamphlets. They read and I read
the same thing. We discuss it
on the phone and in person,
paragraph by paragraph. We
write about pertinent parts. We
share and love and care about
one another, not about food.
We’d lose weight , but it doesn’t
compare with the burdens of
the soul we’ve dropped.
I thank the beautiful young
woman who requested a definition of abstinence. In a word
“freedom.”
Reprinted from Life line November 1982
“I believe
abstinence can
be anything we
want it to be, as
long as we are
honest with
ourselves.”
“...the
compulsion to
overeat dies in
direct proportion
to the spiritual
and emotional
recovery found
in the steps.”
OCTOBER 2013
Page 5
STEP, TRADITION, & CONCEPT OF THE MONTH
Step 10
Tradition 10
Concept 10
Continued to take personal
Service responsibility is
inventory and when we were
Overeaters Anonymous has no
opinion on outside issues;
wrong promptly admitted it.
hence the OA name ought
defined service authority;
never be drawn into public
therefore, duplication of
controversy.
efforts is avoided.
Spiritual Principle: Neutrality
Spiritual Principle: Clarity
Spiritual Principle:
balanced by carefully
Perseverance
(reprinted from OA.ORG)
TOOL OF THE MONTH
A Plan of Eating
As a tool, a plan of eating helps
us to abstain from eating compulsively.
Having a personal plan of eating
guides us in our dietary decisions,
as well as defines what, when,
how, where and why we eat. It is
our experience that sharing this
plan with a sponsor or another OA
member is important.
There are no specific requirements for a plan of eating; OA
does not endorse or recommend
any specific plan of eating, nor
does it exclude the personal use
of one. (See the pamphlets
“Dignity of Choice” and “A Plan
of Eating” for more information.)
For specific dietary or nutritional
guidance, OA suggests consulting a qualified health care professional, such as a physician or
dietician.
Each of us develops a personal
plan of eating based on an honest appraisal of his or her own
past experience; we also have
come to identify our current
individual needs, as well as
those things which we should
avoid. Although individual plans
of eating are as varied as our
members, most OA members
agree that some plan — no matter
how flexible or structured — is
necessary.
This tool helps us deal with the
physical aspects of our disease
and helps us achieve physical
recovery. From this vantage point,
we can more effectively follow
OA's Twelve-Step program of recovery and move beyond the food
to a happier, healthier and more
spiritual living experience.
(reprinted from oanova.org)
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FROM THE CHAIR OCTOBER 2014
What does abstinence mean to me? Having written on this subject quite frequently, I wanted to challenge myself with a
different approach for this issue of NOVATIONS.
Compulsive eating and my recovery have
three components; abstinence is required
in each of them. I concur completely with
our OA definition of Abstinence which
states it is, “…the action of refraining from
compulsive eating and compulsive food
behaviors while working toward or maintaining a healthy body weight. Spiritual,
emotional and physical recovery is the
result of living the Overeaters Anonymous
Twelve-Step program.”
Therefore the physical aspect of abstinence is action on my part - that of re-
fraining from eating compulsively; I am
willing to utilize all OA Tools to maintain
this aspect of abstinence.
Emotional abstinence for me involves
applying the Steps to all of my problems
with willingness to work and re-work
Steps to reveal more areas in need of
recovery. In order to maintain this process I attempt to abstain or refrain from
acting out my character defects. When I
am intentional about this I begin to experience both self-esteem and peace of
mind.
I’ve discovered that both physical and
emotional abstinence then result in a
lifting of the compulsion for today, resulting in acceptance of life on life’s terms.
Spiritual abstinence for me is letting God
be God. Therefore, each day, each moment that I wait for God’s direction to do
the next right thing, I am being spiritually
abstinent – refraining from self-will.
I love page 83 in our 12 & 12 where the
penultimate promise is found: “One aspect of this program that keeps us here
is the promise of permanent recovery
from this baffling malady.”
This is what Abstinence means to mean.
Remember – It works if you work it and it
won’t if you don’t.
ODAT,
Gail